Being a salesperson can be one of the most fun and rewarding roles for someone with the right mindset and work ethic. The good news is that you don’t have to be a natural-born salesperson to succeed in the world of sales. Like most things, once you master the hard skills associated with a sales role, you can consistently produce results.
Sales is an emotional game that requires consistency, resilience, and empathy. Contrary to popular belief, many of the greatest salespeople in the world listen more than they speak. They also know their products and their customers like the back of their hand.
In this article, I’ll dive into some of the ways to operate as a successful salesperson.
What are the 3 keys to being successful as a sales rep?
1. Leading the prospect on an emotional journey to yes
A sale is just a decision to hand over cash (or agreement) in exchange for something. Whenever a decision is made, it is oftentimes emotion that determines the outcome.
An expert salesperson leads their prospect on an emotional journey. They understand that to hand over cash, the prospect needs to feel a certain something, and they tailor their pitch to evoke those emotions.
Even though many people value themselves as levelheaded, analytical, and emotionally controlled, they still buy things based on feelings rather than facts. The trick lies in knowing which buttons to push on the vastly different personalities you might encounter.
2. Building trust faster than anyone else
When people are in business situations, they do business with people they like. Do you find it easy to be friendly and likable? Probably so, but what about the others? A great salesperson is able to build rapport with anyone and establish that feeling of mutual “liking” and trust every time.
The faster you do this, the quicker you will get the yes.
3. Guiding the prospect to rationalization
This is where logic really comes into play. I already mentioned that sales decisions are sometimes made emotionally, but there are also a set of logical requirements that go into every deal.
When consumers approach a buying decision, they rely on both emotion and logic. The emotional component of their decision is the first key, and it is unconscious. However, at the conscious level, every consumer also holds a set of structured criteria in their mind as well.
Facilitating the prospect walking the conscious level steps to yes in a way that makes them feel like they got there themselves is one of the most important skills you can master.
How do I become a successful sales rep?
To become a successful sales rep, focus on continuous improvement within these four categories: competitive spirit, listening and internalizing, resiliency, and self-confidence.
1. Competitive spirit
Good salespeople seek opportunities to improve because that’s what makes them better. This usually means more commissions and more money in your pocket, too.
2. Listening and internalizing
If you listen carefully to the customer's goals and pain points, you can align your company's offering with these needs. This makes the call more relevant and solution-focused. I've found that when you do this, you increase your chances of closing the deal.
3. Resiliency
Sales can be a tough gig. One month you might be riding high on a wave of closings and commissions. Next, no one returns your phone calls, and you experience a dry spell. The best salespeople are resilient. They don't love rejection, but they can accept hearing no a million times without despairing. Use rejection as fuel. Rather than seeing failure as a character flaw, use it as motivation to learn from your mistakes and do better next time.
Go back and review recordings of your calls and use them to improve. Focus on your worst calls to see what your weaknesses are, but don't forget to review your best wins to see what helps you win.
4. Self-confidence
A good salesperson comes off as confident, in control, and informative. It’s all about how you present yourself to prospects. What matters is that you’re comfortable enough in your own skin to appear confident, which can make prospects feel more comfortable with closing the deal. Perfecting your presentation skills is key to showing up to calls with the self-confidence needed to close a deal.
Main photo by Volodymyr Hryshchenko on Unsplash
